We are thrilled to announce that the 13th edition of the Kurdish Film Festival Berlin will take place from the 6th until the 12th of October 2023. Once again, we will present a versatile Program of Kurdish cinema, with the Intention to create a space of artistic expression for Kurdish filmmakers and tell Kurdish stories to a broad audience. In addition to an extensive fiction and documentary program, a short film competition will be held to encourage young filmmakers and talents. Next to panel discussions and concerts will be held, and a children’s program and workshops will be hosted for our youngest film enthusiasts. Our partner cinemas Babylon Kinos (Mitte), Moviemento and FSK in Berlin-Kreuzberg will join us again this year to celebrate Kurdish cinema. And anyone around the world that is unable to join us in person, will be able to do so through our online streaming platform.

Here is a list of all the movies that are available in our online Programme SHORTS I’m Raining Down Into The City Kasim Ördek 13 – 20 October worldwide Once upon time in Kurdistan Zhino Hadi 13 – 20 October worldwide After The Rain Beston Ziryan 13 – 20 October worldwide 58 days Foad Jalal 13 – 20 October worldwide Zimane Ciye Lisa Calan 13 – 20 October worldwide Like a forest Zara Demet Altan 13.10.-31.12. Germany DOCUMENTARIES Love in the face of genocide Shero Hinde 13 – 20 October worldwide Casimê Celîl Özlem Diler-Celil Badikanlı 13 – 20 October worldwide Hêza Derya Deniz 13 – 20 October worldwide Nûjiyan Jînda Asmen 13 – 20 October worldwide Resistance is Life Apo Bazidi 13 – 20 October worldwide Köy Serpil Turhan 13 – 20 October worldwide Commander Arian Alba Sotorra 13 – 20 October worldwide Radio Kobani Reber Dosky 13 – 27 October worldwide This Rain Will Never Stop Alina Gorlova 13.10. – 03.11. Germany, Austria, Switzerland Women Against ISIS Pascale Bourgaux 13.10. – 31.12. worldwide FEATURE FICTION Dirty Lands Ala Hoshyar 13 – 20 October worldwide Before the Night Ali Kemal Chinar 13.10.- 31.12. worldwide CHİLDREN Hût İbrahim Yıldırım 13 – 19 October worldwide Gergerok M.Baran Rehani 13 – 19 October worldwide Diyariyek M.Seyyid Yıldız 12.10 – 31.12 worldwide EXPERİMENTAL Nishtiman Hawar Amini 13 – 19 October worldwide Syrian Wedding Khadija Baker 13 – 19 October worldwide Gilgameş Pelin Tan-Anton Vidokle 13.10 – 31.12 worldwide The Game Eren Karakuş 13.10 – 31.12 worldwide Middle Point Yılmaz Çintan 13.10 – 31.12 Germany Starting Over Evin Berazi 13.10 – 31.12 worldwide Wie geht es dir? Serhat Ertuna 13.10 – 31.12 worldwide SHORTS IN COMPETITION Birds Fly Back Jiyan Düyü 13.10. – 19.10.2022 worldwide The Wheel Metin Ewr 13.10. – 31.10.2022 worldwide Behind the Scenes Asmaa Salih 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Karnîka Meryem Semedi 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide The Cold Adar Baran Deger 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Sibar Majid Darvishnejad 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Don Don Bullet Zuhal Kaya 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Kefsan Akbar Shabazi 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Afrin Nazdar Shemo 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide The Adress Aram Dildar 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Knife and Life Zheer Faraidoon Hama Salih 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Extra Time Muschirf Shekh Zeyn 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Hîc Fuat Bulut 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide Fingerprint Zanyar Mihemmedînikû 13.10. – 31.12.2022 worldwide SPECIAL: KURDISH CLASSICS Reseba – The Dark Wind Hussein Hassan 13.10.-31.12. worldwide Memories On Stone Shawkat Amin Korki 13.10.-31.12. worldwide The Legend Of The Ugly King Hüseyin Tabak 13.10.-31.12. worldwide The Milan Protocol Peter Ott 13.10.-31.12. worldwide

We will celebrate the finale of the festival on 19.10. in the Festsaal Kreuzberg with live music and DJs, whose performance invites us to enjoy and dance. To kick off the evening, the three winners of the short film competition will be announced. 14 short films compete for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. An independent jury will decide on the winners. Eniz Aktaş and Şilan Aktaş will musically introduce the evening with live Kurdish music on the guitar. With his performance of Kurdish music, Eniz has been delighting audiences not only in his hometown Iğdir or in the metropolis of Istanbul for many years, but has also accompanied numerous film shootings. We are also very much looking forward to Süleyman Çarnewa, who collects centuries-old songs in remote Kurdish villages and combines them with the sound and feel of modern Western pop and rock music. The result is a completely unique and stirring sound. A musical journey that we can experience live. And of course DJ Bariş Cengiz, who already heated up last year at our closing party, must not be missing. Rhythmic and dynamic, he changes folk songs, such as melancholic Alevi music from his homeland or various pop songs from the Near and Middle East, and mixes them with electro beats. Bariş sets swirl and get us moving. “Everyone should dance, no matter what their social status is,” says Bariş.

The official festival trailer is online.

The anthropologist Şermin Güven traces the global water crisis along the main rivers of Mesopotamia – Euphrates and Tigris, which are also lifelines of a world region. The effects of dams, monopolized agriculture, conflicts, climate fluctuations, and drought affect the lives of local civilians who strive to live in peace throughout this region. Using satellite data and video footage of the rivers Euphrates, Tigris, Munzur, Khabur…. she takes us along the rivers to the people of Mesopotamia – their cultural memory, symbols and resilience. Her presentation will focus on the special relationship of people from different parts of Kurdistan to nature, everyday politics, and new potentials for greater resilience in the face of ongoing political crises and ecological disasters. The following short film/film clips will be used in the presentation: „Cudi of the wishes“ (2021) Semiha Yildiz „Munzur“ (2022) Mehmet Gürü Avcu [Film excerpt] „Eine Reise nach Rojava“ (2022) Ekrem Heydo [Film excerpt] „Gebaute Utopien – Frauen bauen Resilienzen in Zeiten von Krisen“ (2022) Şermin Güven in cooperation with JINWAR 4pm 15th October at Rosa-Luxemburg-Saal

The group exhibition titled “Rojava – Binxet” will be held at Babylon Berlin as part of the Berlin Kurdish Film Festival between 13th – 19th October 2022. It will take place at Babylon Berlin.Curated by Baris Seyitvan, the exhibition will take place brings together the works of Havin Al-Sindy, Jacopo Gallico, Khadija Baker, Leyla Toprak, Maryam Ashrafi, Wirya Budaghi, Ahmed Nabaz, Z. Sarah Koessler and Zehra Dogan. Opening: 6pm, 13th October.

KFFB’s experimental section presents 7 works: Gilgamêş – Anton Vidokle & Pelin Tan Middle Point – Yılmaz Çintan Nishtman – Hawar Amini Starting Over – Evîn Berazî Syrian Wedding – Khadija Baker The Game – Eren Karakuş Wie geht es dir? Aufzeichnungen aus dem Kellerloch – Serhat Ertuna Leyla Toprak is a Kurdish director and performing artist, currently studying at University of Fine arts (UdK) in Berlin. She curates this year’s experimental section: “The existential process that is shaped in the face of cultural and social denial by the ongoing power mechanisms has to creat itself instinctively an artistic ground of movement waved by political reflexes. This obligation, even though it is connected tightly to the social, turns into the means of motivation for protecting social and cultural identity and making itself alive. At this point, the artist sees approaching the situation and problems of its subject communities is approaching herself and her problems. This intersection between the social and personal distilled through multi-layers of conscious opens the door of the experimental cinema via different ways of seeing. 12th Berlin Kurdish Film Festival’s experimental cinema section meets the audience as a reflection of these ways of seeing.”

In our last post we announced the candidates for the short film competition. This year’s short film jury consists of Husein Hassan (writer & director), Havin al Sind (artist), Mizgin Bilmen (director), and Guevara Namer (producer) will choose and honor the winners during the festival in October. We are especially happy to welcome Hussein Hassan, who will be arriving from Kurdistan, as our Jury President. You can find more information about our jury on our instagram and facebook.

On August 15, the KFFB accepted the last submissions for the 2022 Short Film Competition. The team was pleased to receive almost 300 submissions from 7 countries. The selection process was lengthy, but a pre-selection has now been made: a total of 14 films have made it into our program -six films from Turkey, four films from Iran, two from KRG-Iraq and one each from Syria and Germany. Half of the selected films are by female filmmakers and two of the films have made it into our program beyond the competition. We are excited to announce the candidates soon. KFFB12 is proud to announce the official short film competition candidates! The Wheel – Metîn Ewr Karnîka – Meryem Semedî Fingerprint – Zanyar Muhammadineko The cold – Adar Baran Deger Sibar – Majid Darvesh “Don Don” Bullet – Zuhal Kaya Kefsan – Akbar Shahbazi Afrin – Nazdar Shemo Birds Fly Back – Jiyan Duyu The Adress – Aram Didar Knife and Life – Zheer Baban Extra Time – Muschirf Shekh Zeyn, Marc Philip Ginolas Hîc – Fuat Bulut Behind The Scenes – Asmaa Salih out of competition: Aysha – Cengiz Akaygun Like a Forest – Sarah Demet Altan Congratulations! The filmmakers will be contacted soon.

This year’s poster design represents a hopeful view into the future framed by a fence. A fence is an obstacle yet this one is adorned with colorful ribbons, which epitomize our hopes for freedom and equality. Yana Vekshyna is the artist behind the artwork. She is a Ukrainian graphic designer and illustrator living and working in Berlin. She moved to Germany in 2017 and studied design at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences. Her main fields of interest are intercultural print design and multi-scriptual typography.

NACHBARN by Mano Khalil is this year’s opening film of the Kurdish Film Festival in Berlin. The director was born in the Syrian part of Kurdistan and studied law and science in Damascus. Later he studied feature film directing in Czechoslovakia. Now he lives in Switzerland where he works as a director and screenwriter. In his latest film “Neighbors” he draws the picture of a childhood marked by despotism and violence, while still trying to bring lightness and humor to the audience.

This year our festival is accompanied by an exibition of Kurdish art curated by our friend and colleague Bariş Seyitvan. Bariş is an independent Kurdish artist and curator from Diyarbakir, Turkey. His professional experience spans twenty years of work with arts organizations, individual artists and nonprofits. Seyitvan‘s artistic focus is the Kurdish migration in the Middle East. His work explores and reflects on the trans-national reality of the global Kurdish community. Seyitvan‘s exhibitions examine topics like history, geography and politics, as well as the broader cultural themes of language, exile, gender and displacement, which have long dominated the Kurdish experience. The exhibition will take place at @babylonberlin – see you there 😊!

You can now submit your short films to our competition! The deadline for submission is August 15, 2022. We are looking for: – Productions from 2021/2022 – 25 min max length – Stories from a Kurdish perspective and/or on Kurdish topics At the end of the festival, an independent jury will decide on three winners, who will all receive a price. The submission fee is 5 euros.* CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE This competition specifically supports new voices and perspectives. Submissions from “established” filmmakers will be more likely to considered for the short film program outside of the competition. We are very excited to see your movies… (*The money from the entry fees goes directly into the prize money.)

This year our festival focuses on Rojava (West Kurdistan), a Kurdish region located in the Syrian State. The focus program features works by filmmakers from Rojava and international films about the region. An extensive panorama reflects cultural, social, political and historical contexts. Perspectives from Rojava, the western Kurdish diaspora and the western perspective on the region unfold a broad mosaic of diverse insights. In addition to numerous film contributions, there will also be an art exhibition and a panel dedicated to Rojava.

The wait is over in about five months: The 12th Kurdish Film Festival Berlin will take place from October 13th – 19th. This year’s program combines traditional and contemporary Filmmaking from a Kurdish perspective as well as about Kurdish realities. Our screenings of short, documentary and feature films will be accompanied by a diverse program of music, discussion, art and workshops. A competition for short films will promote new talents. Our partner cinemas are traditionally the Babylon Mitte cinema, the Moviemento in “Kreuzkölln” and the fsk cinema in Kreuzberg. For everyone who is not in Berlin, we offer online screenings of a selection of movies. We are looking forward to seeing you in the movie theatre and online.